Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Aleksandar Jovanovi}
Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade
Abstract: In pre-Roman Moesia Superior (Upper Moesia), cremation was the exclusively practised
burial rite. This fact seems to indicate that inhumation was a foreign introduction. The state of re-
search on cemeteries varies from area to area. As the circumstances and processes of urbanization
and Romanization were also varied, any generalization would, a priori, be open to controversy. For
this reason the archaeological evidence of each site is presented separately, moving from the north
to the south of the province. The description starts with urban centres, moves on to smaller towns
and down the scale to villae rusticae and rural settlements.
Key words: Moesia Superior, 1st–3rd centuries, inhumation, cremation, sarcophagi, grave goods.
first consider the data related to towns, going from north to south, and then
look at other settlements.
In Belgrade (Singidunum), where this kind of research goes back to the
last decades of the 19th century, some 250 graves of the 1st to 3rd centuries have
been investigated so far (Pop-Lazi} 2002). The ratio of cremations to inhumations
is 2:1. They occur at the same necropolises, often in the context of one burial
insula, and contain similar, basically quite reduced and modest grave goods.
Not a single inhumation has been reliably dated to the 1st century A.D. A few
dozen graves from the 2nd and early 3rd centuries show the simplest form: an
earthen pit without so much as a wooden coffin. They do not seem to have
been marked in any permanent way, as suggested by their having been recur-
rently disturbed by subsequent burials. From the second third of the 3rd cen-
tury, inhumation graves with a more elaborate construction begin to occur.
Brick-lined chambers, sometimes containing lead sarcophagi, or those lined
with stone slabs have been discovered and, in the last third of the 3rd century,
also those built of reused gravestones. Most of these burial chambers had been
damaged, as were most of some 20 sarcophagi, carved from locally available
sandstone. Indeed, only two sarcophagi have been found intact, both from the
excavated part of a necropolis in Kosovska Street: one contained a golden ring,
two circular sheet-gold appliqués and coins of Trajan, and the other, with an
inscription on the front, held two bone pins, a ceramic jug and coins of
Hadrian. Sarcophagi containing sheet-gold appliqués are not uncommon in
Upper Moesia – more about this will be said in the section on So~anica
(Municipium DD) and Skopje (Scupi) – and are associated with settlers from
the Empire’s Anatolian provinces. Thus the above-mentioned inscription re-
fers to M. Aurelius Glyconianus, a centurion of the 7th Claudian and 4th
Flavian legions, who, judging by his name, came from Greece or from the
Hellenized provinces of Asia Minor (Mirkovi} 1997). Burial chambers with
leaden sarcophagi containing rich grave goods also suggest socially and eco-
nomically strong immigrants from the eastern provinces. The lead sarcophagus
from Po`areva~ka Street, from a smaller necropolis or a mausoleum attached
to a villa suburbana, contained a gold bracelet, an intaglio, a lamp, three ce-
ramic jugs and coins of Philip the Arabian of 244–245 A.D., while the lead sar-
cophagus from Majke Jevrosime Street yielded a pair of golden earrings, a ring
and a bracelet, all dateable to the second half of the 3rd century. A grave with a
lead sarcophagus from Mala Ivan~a, in the wider Singidunum ager, belongs to
the same period and the same immigrant population. Interesting in this context
are also the richly furnished 3rd century inhumations in built graves from
Marinkova Bara, ^ukarica and Vo`dovac, relatable to the suburban villas ac-
commodating Singidunum’s affluent inhabitants and magistrates, probably of
oriental origin. While it may be argued more or less with certainty that these
examples belong to a population from the Empire’s eastern provinces, Asia
Minor in particular, the simple and poor inhumation graves, which are older
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A. Jovanovi} Prologue to the Research of Inhumation in Moesia Superior
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graves, 116 belong to children under 15 years of age, and 137 to adults. The
children’s graves reveal a rule: at all the necropolises in Upper Moesia, children,
even Infants II age group, were buried. If this constant is eliminated, the ratio of
cremated to inhumed adults becomes 2.5:1, i.e. the same as at other Moesian
urban necropolises in the 1st–3rd centuries. The Viminacium inhumations were
simple earthen graves, with only a few containing a wooden coffin or being
covered with a plank. A N-S orientation prevailed, but that was not a rule.
More than half lacked grave goods or contained only coins placed in the mouth
of the deceased. This fact may suggest an impoverished population and Roman
Viminacium’s low socioeconomic stratum. And yet, such a conclusion would
be an exaggeration: in addition to coins, the other inhumation graves con-
tained pottery, lamps, occasionally bronze bullae, rings and golden earrings,
and in children’s graves even daggers as an expression of the idea of veterani
filli. Generally, the cremation graves, predominantly of Mala Kopa{nica-Sase
I-II type, and the inhumations show burial goods that are very similar in char-
acter and quality. This fact may suggest a more or less homogeneous popula-
tion in terms of economic strength, social status and level of Romanization.
But it raises the question of differences underlying the observance of two dif-
ferent mortuary rites. Although a number of these inhumations are likely to
have belonged to the lowest social stratum unable to afford a proper funeral
pyre (rogus), a more significant distinction should be looked for in different
ethnic and cultural backgrounds. In principle, the cremations can be associated
with the native population, whereas the adult inhumations should be attributed
to immigrants from the Empire’s eastern provinces whose presence is addi-
tionally evidenced by the epigraphic material (Mirkovi} 1986).
Burials in stone sarcophagi should, of course, be associated with an afflu-
ent social stratum. Viminacium has yielded about a dozen sarcophagi, but not
a single one was found in situ (\or|evi} 1989-1990), which renders their dat-
ing more difficult. Nevertheless, their palaeographic features suggest the 2nd
and 3rd centuries. This modest number of examples is dominated by the sar-
cophagi (5 in number) with their inscription field bordered with Pannonian vo-
lutes. Two of them show well-preserved inscriptions indirectly attributable to
an eastern population. One of the inscriptions reads: D(is) M(anibus) / Vivite
felices nostri/que profundite Manis / et memores sitis nobis/cum vos esse
futuros./ Seviae Aquilinae con/iugi Aur(elius) Marinus b(ene)f(iciarius) /
b(ene) m(erenti) p(osuit). The name Sevia occurs in Italy and the eastern
provinces, and an identical verse – Vivite felices nostrique profundite Manis – has
been documented on a tombstone from Heliopolis, Syria. In the second case,
the inscription field is flanked by two niches, themselves bordered with
Pannonian volutes, one containing a husband and wife and the other Amor
and Psyche. The inscription reads: D(is) M(anibus) / Aureliae Theodote (!) /
rarissimae femine (!) / quae vixit annis XXXI m(ensibus) IIII / dies (!) XVII
Aur(elius) Gallicus / coniugi bene de se meritae. The deceased woman was of
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A. Jovanovi} Prologue to the Research of Inhumation in Moesia Superior
Greek or oriental origin. The other sarcophagi of the type lack inscriptions, but
their decoration is worthy of note. One has lateral niches showing Jason and
Perseus, whose exploits symbolize the virtue and heroization of the deceased;
another, fragmented, shows Amor in a niche; and a third has a niche that re-
mained unfinished, which suggests a manufacturing centre at Viminacium it-
self. In the second group of sarcophagi, the handles of the tabula ansata are in
the form of a shield (pelta). One bears the inscription: D(is) M(anibus) / Tib.
Tettius / Eupheminaus / p(rimus) p(ilus) leg(ionis) VII Cl(audiae) hic / situs
est / Fulvia Chrysis mari/to pientissimo. The cognomens of the centurion and
his wife indicate their eastern origin. Another inscriptionless sarcophagus has
its peltas inscribed with a rosette and a vine leaf respectively, possibly function-
ing as symbols of Cybele and Dionysus (Sabazius), i.e. an Anatolian sacral prin-
ciple. The fragmented sarcophagus depicts Iphigenia in Tauris. The most mon-
umental of Viminacium’s sarcophagi has a lid in the form of a kline with the
recumbent effigy of the deceased; its front shows Amors holding garlands over-
topped by Gorgons’ masks and a blank tabula. One of its sides shows a hunting
horseman, i.e. the heroized deceased, and the other a grieving woman (To-
movi} 1991). These sarcophagi are essentially Anatolian, but they seem to
have been transported to the Danubian centres of Viminacium and Ratiaria,
and only finished there. Hence the iconography of the Thracian horseman on
both the Viminacium and Ratiarian examples (Atanasova 1972). The date of
such sarcophagi is the late 2nd or early 3rd century. The Viminacium necropo-
lises have yielded some twenty burials in leaden sarcophagi (Golubovi} 2001).
Most have been dated to the 4th century and therefore are not relevant to our
subject, but a few older ones are worthy of attention. These, dated to the 2nd
and 3rd centuries, contained coins of Marcus Aurelius and Septimius Severus,
golden earrings and leather sandals placed next to the deceased in order to
emphasize heroization through barefootedness and the concept of ipsa deae
vestigial (Dunbabin 1990). Their decoration, consisting of projecting triangles
and rhombuses, and of rectangular fields depicting Mars, Europa on a bull and
the three Graces, may in many of its elements be compared with the Jerusalem
output of the period. It also makes one think of soldiers and immigrants from
Palestine.
Endless are the questions posed by the tremendously abundant material
from Viminacium’s necropolises. When it is published, some quite new pros-
pects will open in the study of many aspects of the funerary cult and, accord-
ingly, into the issue of inhumation under the Early Empire. For the time being,
unwilling to make guesses about other people’s intentions and ideas, I would
like to single out a few interesting and peculiar features offered by this abun-
dance.
On the Vi{e Grobalja necropolis ten skull burials have been recorded: a
single skull in six cases, 2 in two cases, 3 in one case, and in one case as many as
9 skulls forming a pyramidal pattern. As these peculiar sepulchral configura-
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tions lacked grave goods, their dating to the 2nd and 3rd centuries is strati-
graphic. They raise two basic questions: are they graves or grave goods; and
which is the ethno-cultural circle that they belong to? The well-known Celtic,
and Scordiscan, practice of offering the skulls of defeated enemies as a highly
valued grave good serves as no more than a broad indication (Papazoglu
1968). Namely, these single or grouped skulls were not found in actual graves,
while the circumstances leading to such an archaic funeral at the time of ad-
vanced Romanization in the 2nd and 3rd centuries seem barely imaginable. On
the other hand, the Hellenistic period in the Dardanian territory witnessed
sporadic skull burials (Todorovi} 1979). In the Viminacium case, however,
this seems not to be the clue to follow. They seem to have belonged to older
graves disturbed by new burials; the skull as a bearer of sacral individuality was
left within the broader area of a grave, the postcranial skeleton being laid in a
cult trench such as the one registered on this necropolis. Anthropological anal-
ysis has been carried out for the group of nine skulls designated as Grave 16
(Miki} 1994). They match the palaeo-Mediterranean and robust Mediterra-
nean types, anthropologically different from that of Viminacium’s native popu-
lation, and therefore may be presumed to have belonged to the 1st century ho-
rizon of inhumation graves of an oriental population. The speculative level of
this assumption is accentuated by another striking find, namely, a pyramidal ar-
rangement of 153 (!) epigenetically interrelated skulls from the contemporane-
ous necropolis on the site of Pe}ine at Viminacium (Miki} 1988). Could this
be material gathered from an older epichoraic necropolis in the area? That this
may be true is suggested by a perhaps not very convincing lead: none of these
skulls of both sexes and different age groups belong to elderly individuals,
which may indicate the custom of killing the old practised by the Triballi, or
the irregular burial of elderly persons in places outside necropolises (Pa-
pazoglu 1978: 376–378). Following this rather weak lead, the presumed older
necropolis in this area may be ascribed to the Triballi and dated to the 5th and
4th centuries B.C. In the context of skull burials, worthy of attention is also
Grave 8 on the site of Velika Kapija at Viminacium: a simple earthen grave
with a skull laid on the legs of the corpse. This unusual sepulchral arrangement
at Viminacium, registered in a single case, has been dated to the first half of
the 3rd century. As manifestations of a similar sacral concept occur in the
Dacian cultural area, perhaps this grave should be seen as an expression and
reflection of that tradition (Franga 1993).
In a few dozen inhumation graves of both children and adults, some dis-
tinctive items have been found: clam shells (Cardium edule), sometimes in as-
sociation with bone dice and tokens. The shells are associated with the cultic
essence of Venus, so I assume they symbolize the concept of predestination, of
a reward for having lived a decent and dutiful life, expressed by number 6
shown on the die. Such an outcome of dice throwing is called Venus, and the
shells also seem to materialize that concept. Let us add to this interpretation
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centuries, it goes beyond the immediate scope of this paper. Unfortunately, the
older necropolises of Naissus have not been thoroughly investigated and only a
few chance finds, scattered across the municipal area (Ajdi} 1972), provide
sketchy evidence of the city’s heterogeneous ethnic make-up and of its having
been a copiosum oppidum (Ammianus Marcellinus XXI.10.5). A simple inhu-
mation grave from the site of Gradsko Polje on the north-eastern necropolis of
Naissus contained a ceramic lamp with a heart-shaped nozzle and a depiction
of Serapis and Isis on its disc. Such lamps, of remarkable quality, are classifi-
able as Type VII (Iványi 1935) or Type XXV (Broneer 1930) and dateable to
the turn of the 1st and 2nd centuries. The depiction on the disc indicates an ad-
herent to the cult of Serapis and Isis, and perhaps the deceased’s Egyptian
background. The site of “Ribnik” has yielded a rich but damaged grave associ-
ated with a suburban villa. The barrel-vaulted burial chamber with a leaden
sarcophagus has been investigated. The surviving grave goods included a pair
of gilded leather sandals (solae) and a glass balsamarium (Isings 1957: form
82), a shape commonly dated to the 2nd and 3rd centuries. From a tomb with
inhumations at a smaller necropolis attached to a suburban villa at the site of
Gorica come a pair of gold earrings with openwork ornament, a bronze statu-
ette of Venus as an expression of the abovementioned cult of Venus Funeraria
in Upper Moesia, and a remarkable golden ring with the depiction of an impe-
rial adventus, which may have been a reward for dutiful service (in the munici-
pal administration?) or an expression of the status granted on merit upon man-
umitted imperial slaves by the ius anulorum (Millar 1977: 488 ff). All in all, this
is a rich 3rd century tomb attributable to a municipal officer of oriental origin.
Similar in character is the content of an inhumation grave associable with the
suburban villa at Vinik: a ring decorated with filigree and granulation depicting
a military oath, a type of a 3rd century date (Jovanovi} 1978: 12–13). This
probably belonged to an army officer – a veteran of oriental origin. On the
other hand, Naissus has yielded poor 3rd century inhumation graves too. One
such was discovered during the construction of the Ambassador Hotel in Ni{:
next to the skeleton was a ceramic vessel with burnished decoration and coins
of Aurelian and Probus. Such pottery being found with the Sarmatians, this
may be the grave of a member of this ethnic group transferred from areas
north of the Danube. That they were relocated in the 3rd century is also eviden-
ced by the name - Sarmates - of a station north of Naissus (Petrovi} 1979: 51).
Nor have the necropolises of Ulpiana (Gra~anica near Pri{tina) been
more thoroughly investigated. Two memorial complexes have been discovered,
one on the city’s northern necropolis, the other on the western (Parovi}-Pe-
{ikan 1982). The funerary complex on the north, defined as a memoria, is an
enclosed rectangle about 15 x 10 m, with a narthex added in the 6th century. It
was in fact an area meceria cincta which received numerous burials. The oldest
layer holds a few 2nd century cremations, while the burials in fine stone sar-
cophagi, in lead sarcophagi and in simple earthen pits belong to a period be-
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A. Jovanovi} Prologue to the Research of Inhumation in Moesia Superior
tween the late 2nd and the 4th century; this area was to be used for secondary
burial in the 6th century as well. The burials in fine-quality sarcophagi con-
tained no goods and their broad dating to the late 2nd and the 3rd century is
based on stratigraphic evidence. A tempting hypothesis has been proposed on
the basis of one, though reused, epigraphic monument; namely, that this sepul-
chral setting may be associated with the well-known Italic family Furi-Varani
that provided the worthiest and proudest citizens of Ulpiana. If this hypothesis
is accepted, it follows that the provincial municipal elite changed their mortu-
ary rite and adopted inhumation almost concurrently with the imperial seat –
Rome. A funerary structure on Ulpiana’s western necropolis, set on an E-W
axis, is rectangular in plan and has an apse on its northern and southern sides.
The southern one accommodated a brick-lined grave, which had been robbed
and contained no goods. Sepulchral structures of the same shape have been
registered elsewhere in Moesia (Brestovik, Viminacium, Skobalj), dated to the
3rd and 4th centuries, and ascribed to eastern – Anatolian or Syrian – influ-
ences. The example from Ulpiana being dated to the 4th century, I would not
refer to it save for one interesting detail. Namely, built into this structure are
older votive monuments dedicated to Zeus Ezzaiel, worshipped in the Phrygi-
an city of Aizanoi, and to Jupiter Melano, a Bithynian deity of Asia Minor.
One gets the impression that a shrine sacred to the Anatolian deities must
have been in the vicinity and that its fragments were reverently, and with a re-
markable sense of sacral continuity, built into the memoria where the next gen-
eration of settlers from the Anatolian provinces was to be buried.
Anatolian settlers, especially from Bithynia, have also been confirmed at
Municipium D/ar/d/anorum/ (So~anica near Kosovska Mitrovica) (^er{kov
1970: 56–93). The temple in the forum is dedicated to the Bithynian hero
Antinous, the anthroponymic records from tombstones show oriental names
and many sepulchral forms are relatable to that population (Du{ani} 1971;
Milin 2003). Regrettably, only a small number of the graves have resulted
from archaeological excavation; as most had already been plundered, any sur-
viving information about them needs to be handled with caution (Fidanovski
1988). One of such records is the earliest information about the necropolis on
the site of Ravani{te, the one nearest to the city core: during the 1930s some 50
(?) stone and lead sarcophagi, an unusually large number for the Moesian situ-
ation, were stolen away. This find seems to have included the lead sarcophagus
(Vuli} 1941-1948: 103–104, No. 224), which was patterned with recurrent re-
lief motifs of ram, fish, kantharos and wineskin (askos). The sarcophagi be-
longed to an oriental population and, in addition to Anatolian influences, it is
perhaps the union of two sacral principles, Cybele’s (ram, fish) and Diony-
sus-Sabazius’ (kantharos, askos), that should be recognized in this decorative
pattern. At a later date, this necropolis, the oldest in the Municipium DD area,
yielded a few more inhumation burials of the 2nd and 3rd centuries. These were
simple earthen graves, of which three did not hold any goods, while another
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two did: a pair of earrings in the shape of Heracles’ knot and coins of
Septimius Severus in one, and a ceramic lamp, a cup and coins of Marcus
Aurelius (?) in the other. There were also another five stone sarcophagi, which
were damaged and only one contained coins of Iulia Mamaea. The 1977
small-scale excavations uncovered a lead sarcophagus set on an N-S axis: next
to a female skeleton lay bone pins, a pair of silver earrings, a bronze ring with a
representation of Venus and coins from the Antonine period. Unlike this ne-
cropolis, where only inhumations have been registered and which may be reli-
ably attributed to settlers from the Empire’s eastern provinces, as well as to
slaves or freedmen of oriental origin, the necropolis at Prisoje showed both
mortuary rites, inhumation being predominant. Six separate earthen graves
have been registered, basically set on an E-W axis and likely to be of a 4th cen-
tury date. There were also a few brick-lined graves with lead sarcophagi, dated
to the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Two from the latter group are worthy of examina-
tion. One of them, perhaps a tumulus burial, was discovered in 1932; it con-
tained a sword, a bronze helmet, 14 arrowheads, a silver fibula and 20 floral or-
naments of sheet gold. Burial with weapons was unusual in Moesia in this pe-
riod, and this is an isolated case; it certainly was not a Roman custom, nor was
it a result of Romanization. Such graves in the Lower Danubian provinces, also
a rare occurrence, are associated with auxiliary force officers recruited from
among the aristocracy, particularly from the eastern provinces and Thrace. A
few contemporaneous finds of the kind – those from Tomi (Petculescu 1998)
and, especially, from Barbosi (Sanie 1981: 82, 88, pl. 65), where the body and
weapons were laid in a stone sarcophagus whose inscription makes mention of
Alfenus Modestus, a strategus from Anatolian Cyzikus under Septimius Seve-
rus – suggest the direction the interpretation of our example should take. I pre-
sume he was an army officer from the northwest of Asia Minor (Bithynia,
Mysia?), a commander of an auxiliary unit from these provincial areas. An in-
teresting find from this grave is the set of floral golden ornaments which may
have been part of a wreath awarded to the heroized deceased, or undying flow-
ers sprinkled on the deceased’s body by his or her relatives. Their latter func-
tion is suggested by the 1977 discovery at Prisoja of such ornaments in a grave
with a lead sarcophagus: the woman’s body was sprinkled with 19 golden
leaves. In addition to them, there were also: a bone pin, fragments of gilded
sandals, coins of Hadrian and a pair of gold earrings of meticulous craftsman-
ship and extraordinary shape. From the rosette-shaped shield hung a pendant
in the shape of a pine cone, interpretable as expressing the sacral union of
Cybele (rosette) and Dionysius-Sabazius (pine cone), frequent in the Anato-
lian provinces. In brief, on Municipium DD’s necropolises the Anatolian set-
tlers were buried with the natives side by side on the sites of Prisoje and Rudo
Polje, while on the site of Ravani{te they had a burial-ground or a burial insula
of their own and are likely to have had one in the town itself. The number of
inhumation graves of the 2nd–3rd centuries is large and equal to that of crema-
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Grave 8 held a lead sarcophagus with its lid decorated in relief and reminiscent
of those from Syria and Palestine, and a black jade bracelet associable with the
cult of Cybele. In six cases, above these graves were found surfaces bearing evi-
dence of funeral cults or banquets, such as ashes, soot, ceramic vessels, lamps,
eggs. Summing up the results of excavation at these necropolises of Scupi, one
may reiterate the hypothesis proposed by Mikul~i} (1975) that these graves be-
longed to immigrants from the eastern parts of the Empire, Asia Minor and
Syria in particular, whose presence is additionally evidenced by many grave-
stones and votive monuments from Scupi. More recent excavations on Scupi’s
eastern necropolis, where inhumations of Late Antiquity predominate, have
produced some information of interest to our subject (Jovanova and Mi-
hailova 1999). About a dozen simple inhumation graves have been registered
which contained coins of Aurelian and Probus, as well as lamps and pottery at-
tributable to the Lower Danubian manufacturing zone. The hypothesis seems
acceptable that they belonged to the newcomers from the province of Dacia
which the Romans gave up and abandoned. Worthy of attention are also a few
graves from the necropolises attached to suburban villas in the vicinity of
Scupi. The site of Vlae at Skopje has yielded a large high-quality sarcophagus
of the 2nd century, which an eques Romanus, Marcillius Valerius Vitalis,
erected to his father M. Valerius Marinus, a decurio of Scupi; in the nearby vil-
lage of Badrovac a monumental sarcophagus with an inscription has been dis-
covered. This mentions the veteran M. Teres (?) Terentenianus, probably of
Thracian origin, his wife Iulia Didyma of oriental origin, and a freedman,
Terentius Marcianus. The fact that a Christian cemetery church was built
above this grave in the 4th century may indicate that these deceased, or some of
them, were Christian and that they died in Decius’ persecutions in the middle
of the 3rd century. In a quarter of Skopje, Taftalid`e II, a rich family necropolis
attached to a 2nd century suburban villa has been discovered. In addition to
cremation graves (leaden urns), which contained gold-foil leaves, it has also
yielded three stone sarcophagi that, just as those from Ulpiana, testify to a
changed or biritual burial practice among the urban elite.
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From the site of ]irilovac, probably from a disturbed inhumation grave, comes
a portrait mask, part of a parade helmet, which may be dated to the second
half of the 2nd century (Srejovi} and Cermanovi}-Kuzmanovi} 1987: 22–23).
Later on, in the 1980s, a brick-built tomb with a lead sarcophagus attached to
the nearby suburban villa was excavated (Jovanovi} and Cuwak 1987). The
sarcophagus contained two golden rings, a kantharos-headed golden pin and a
necklace with barrel- and kantharos-shaped golden pendants. This find may be
dated to the second half of the 3rd century. Particularly interesting is the relief
decoration on the sarcophagus lid. Its upper part shows two masks of Dionysus
and a commanding cross having in its centre a rhombus inscribed with a cross;
along the edge runs the inscription: Aureli(ae) Salleli(ae) f(iliae) c(arissimae).
Christian elements are not an isolated occurrence in the area. Two circular
martiria have been registered at Vinceia, and the site of Mezul near Sme-
derevo has yielded an early 3rd century nave-shaped bronze lamp, Christian in
character, with the inscription: In domo dei votum fecit Hermogenes (Popovi}
1970). A Christian community was founded by the immigrants from Greece or
Asia Minor, whose presence is additionally evidenced by epigraphic monu-
ments. It is to them that the abovementioned find from ]irilovac may be as-
cribed, as well as the brick-built tomb holding two inhumations on the nearby
site of Kova~i}evo near Smederevo. This tomb yielded a ring of vitreous paste
and two coins of Gordian III struck by the mint of Nicaea in Asia Minor. The
abovementioned parade helmet from Smederevo, relatable to a sepulchral
context, dictates that the similar find from Egeta (Brza Palanka near Kladovo)
should be interpreted in a similar way. This is an accidental find from the area
of the necropolis of Roman Egeta (Petrovi} 1994) and it can probably be asso-
ciated with an officer of cohors I Cretum, which built a shrine to Jupiter
Dolichenus on this site at the turn of the 2nd and 3rd centuries. A possible re-
construction would be as follows: the inhumation grave holding the parade hel-
met of an officer of oriental origin is from the early 3rd century, when finds of
ceremonial helmets are the most frequent (Garbsch 1978: 33 ff). The frag-
mented belt decorated with enamel can also be interpreted as parade attire. It
comes from a grave, probably an inhumation, at Palevodenica near \eneral
Jankovi}, which may be dated to the second half of the 2nd century and appar-
ently associated with an officer of oriental origin serving at the strategic fort at
the entrance to the Ka~anik Gorge (Fidanovski 1998: 645, kat. br. 302).
I should also mention a few inhumation graves that are relatable to villae
rusticae or to larger farming estates of the praedium or fundus type. At
@eleznik, in the Singidunum area, a fragmented sarcophagus has been re-
corded of the eques Romanus Claudius Valentinianus, owner of a monumental
villa of Mogorjelo type erected in the late third century (Gara{anin 1974). At
Brestovik, in the Aureus Mons area, a frescoed tomb was discovered in the late
19th century. It had two apses and was dated to the 3rd century (Valtrovi}
36
A. Jovanovi} Prologue to the Research of Inhumation in Moesia Superior
1906). Its shape and painted motifs indicate the Syrian or Palmyran culture
area. The presence of Palmyran settlers in Danubian Moesia is additionally ev-
idenced by epigraphic monuments (Popovi} 1993). It remains open, however,
whether they came to Upper Moesia directly or fled from impending danger
from Dacia, where they had a significant colony at Tibiscum. A find from the
villa at Seona may be indirectly related to Aureus Mons: a stone sarcophagus
with its tabula bordered with Pannonian volutes and the depictions of Genii in
its niches, discovered in the early twentieth century (Pavlovi} 1972: 48). Laid
by the skeleton was a pair of golden earrings and a ring with bee ornament (?),
an Ionian motif which may indicate the dead woman’s homeland. This funer-
ary complex may be dated to the first half of the 3rd century. A golden ring with
a bee motif has also been found in an N-S brick-built tomb at Trebi~ near
Sokobanja (Petrovi} 1968). This burial is likely to have belonged to a large es-
tate, possibly a praetorium fundi. Presumably a devastated mausoleum 4.2 x
3.8 m with painted decoration at Kolubarski Leskovac, and a similar structure
at Bojnik near Leskovac, possibly once under a tumulus, also belonged to such
estates. Burials in stone sarcophagi covered with tumuli and furnished with
rich grave goods have been registered at a few sites in Upper Moesia. In the
village of Nozrina near Aleksinac a tumulus was investigated that had in its
centre a stone sarcophagus burial. Its goods included a bronze trefoil-mounted
oinochoe, a fragmented metal casing for a jewellery casket in the form of a
herma and coins of Marcus Aurelius (Jovanovi} 1981). This tumulus also
yielded a fragment of the gravestone with its acroteria in the form of an eagle
holding a bull’s head in its claws. This motif is reminiscent of the depictions of
Jupiter Tourmasgad, an oriental deity confirmed in Upper Moesia (Zotovi}
1977). A “mound” dug up in the village of Orljeva near Petrovac-upon-Mlava
in the early 20th century held a stone sarcophagus burial (Jacanovi} and
@ivkovi} 2000: 134). According to witnesses, it contained a pair of earrings
and a golden pin set with emeralds. The find probably formed part of the mau-
soleum of the owner of a villa connected with the nearby mines – metalla
Aeliana Pincensia. The accidental discovery of a stone sarcophagus, probably
from a tumulus, which contained a plaited silver necklace and a pair of silver
bracelets in the form of a serpent, is relatable to the suburban villa at Kutina
near Ni{, which in turn was connected to the nearby thermal springs. This
jewellery is dateable to the second half of the 2nd century. Of the same nature
are the finds from the tumuli in the northeast of Upper Moesia, discovered in
the environs of Lom and Somovit in the Pleven area, Bulgaria, and dated to
the turn of the 2nd and 3rd centuries. The tumulus at Vrbovka near Lom
(Almus), which may be linked with suburban villas in the broad area of
Ratiaria, yielded a bronze vessel in the shape of a young man’s bust, a strigilis
decorated with dolphins – instrumentum balneae associated with the concept of
heroization in the palaestra – and coins of Lucius Verus, Septimius Severus and
Geta (Danoff 1937). The stone sarcophagi from Somovit, a village in the bor-
37
GSAD/JSAS 22 (2006) Research Papers and Treatises
derland between Upper and Lower Moesia, contained golden jewellery, which
indicates a population with a higher socioeconomic status (Kova~eva 1977).
The two latter finds, from the border area dominated by the Thracian element,
raise the question of ethnic attribution of tumulus inhumations. Most Thracian
tumuli contain cremation graves and therefore, although some believe that
tumulus burials may also be ascribed to the Thracians (Getov 1970: 7), I am in-
clined to favour the assumption, put forward with respect to such finds from
Noviodunum (Bu`or 1960: 538) and Tomis (Barbu 1971: 59), that they should
be ascribed to Hellenized immigrants from the Anatolian provinces of the Ro-
man Empire.
FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
38
A. Jovanovi} Prologue to the Research of Inhumation in Moesia Superior
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43
GSAD/JSAS 22 (2006) Research Papers and Treatises
ALEKSANDAR JOVANOVI]
PROLOG PROU^AVAWU INHUMACIJE U GORWOJ MEZIJI
I–III VEKA
Rezime
Sve populacije na prostoru Gorwe Mezije u predrimskom periodu gotovo
iskqu~ivo praktikuju kremaciju kao na~in sahrawivawa. Ovaj vid sahrawi-
vawa, u razli~itim grobnim formama, dominira kod keltske (Skordisci,
Trikornezi), dako-mizijske (Dardanci, Timahi, Da~ani) i tra~ke etni~ke
aglomeracije. Iz ove ~iwenice name}e se dosledan zakqu~ak: inhumacija
nije nastavak starijih epihorskih tradicija i predstavqa stranu interpo-
laciju na ovom tlu. U ve}ini slu~ajeva ova pretpostavka se mo`e prihvati-
ti, ali ne u svim. Grobovi sa inhumacijom I–III v. uglavnom su nala`eni na
nekropolama gradova, re|e na grobqima mawih naseqa i vila, a sasvim
sporadi~no u seoskim naseobinama. Oni ~ine 20–30% ili, ukqu~uju}i de~ije
sahrane, ~ak iznose do polovine ukupnog broja istra`enih grobova. Sahrane
u kamenim i olovnim sarkofazima ili cistama od cigli, ukoliko su
intaktne, sadr`e bogate i raznovrsne priloge, svedo~e}i o vi{em ekonom-
skom statusu pokojnika. Pokojnici sahraweni u jednostavnim rakama, tako-
|e povremeno imaju bogatiji grobni inventar, karakteristi~an za romani-
zovano stanovni{tvo sredwe klase. Fizi~ko-antropolo{ke analize maweg,
selektivnog uzorka sa Viminacijuma pokazuju dominaciju dolihokrano-me-
diteranskog tipa, ali se tako|e javqaju i anadolski, brahikrano-medi-
teranski, bliskoisto~no-mediteranski i dinarski tip, ali i, uslovno re~e-
no, „praistorijski” tip – proiza{ao iz autohtonog etni~kog supstrata. Ovi
antropolo{ki rezultati „ukr{teni” sa podacima vezanim za na~in sahra-
wivawa i sadr`aj grobnog inventara, sugeri{u da, po svemu sude}i, postoji
veza antropolo{kih tipova mediteranskog porekla sa sahranama u kamenim
i olovnim sarkofazima, cistama i bogatijim grobovima uop{te. Stoga bi
se takve sahrane verovatno mogle povezati sa do{qacima iz isto~nih
provincija Carstva, pristiglih prete`no tokom dinastije Antonina i
Severa, u ciqu poboq{awa nezadovoqavaju}eg stawa ekonomije provincije.
Ti isti antropolo{ki tipovi mediteranskog porekla mogu se, pak, u kon-
tekstu siroma{ne sahrane, pripisati ranim hri{}anima (prvenstveno u Vi-
minacijumu, Naisu i Skupiju) ~ija verska ube|ewa zahtevaju skromnu sahra-
nu, kao i robovima. Dinarski i „praistorijski” antropolo{ki tip u kon-
tekstu siroma{ne sahrane, sugeri{u, me|utim, domoroda~ko stanovni{tvo
(Dako-Mizi, Kelti, Panoni, Tra~ani itd.) niskog dru{tveno-ekonomskog
statusa. Poku{aj vrednovawa ove gra|e je neophodan da bi se svestranije
moglo pristupiti tuma~ewu kasnoanti~kih nekropola sa ovog prostora.
Received: 9 January 2006
UDC 904-03(497.11):726.829.032»00/02»
393.2(398.8))
44